One Last Heist
by MadmanJrs
Summary: The Phantom Thieves are feared throughout Tokyo in the 1930s but when one of their leaders decides it's time to hang up the boots, they aim for one final job. Collaboration with Melkechi. Makoto Week 2019: Day 5 - Prompt: Crime.


1934 – Somewhere in the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan.

Crimson eyes peered up, taking note of the array of posters plastered on the brick wall. All of them had the word "WANTED" written in bold letters above different portraits. She studied the one in the middle. A young woman, perhaps in her early to mid-twenties, with short brown hair cut into a bob that reached down to her jawline. If she could be a little blunt, she figured the artist had barely seen the woman that the sketch was supposed to depict. It didn't really look like them. She would know after all.

The woman was her.

Makoto Niijima would probably never be matched to this picture because of the poor depiction but then again, the mask that she donned helped obscure her identity. She looked at the words below the portrait.

"Queen of the Phantom Thieves."

A rather fitting moniker for her if you asked anyone that knew her. Her eyes gazed to the poster right beside hers. A figure wearing a white mask with black markings around the eyes, framed by a mess of charcoal hair. The look was completed by the man in questions trademark smirk. She felt a rather amused chuckle escape her lips as the drawings eyes stared back at her.

"The Joker," was written below his face "Leader of the Phantom Thieves."

He even had a description below him with several buzz words used to warn the general public.

Notorious.

Dangerous.

Master Thief.

She knew him by another title.

The love of her life.

They had been together for years now, having met as teens and starting this whole operation. And while she did enjoy what she did (they made a rule to never kill), she was starting to grow weary of being on the run. She longed for some peace and quiet and if possible, to start a family with the man she had come to adore. He was her ride or die.

Makoto knew though that he was still in love with the thrill of the heist. She could picture his stupid smirk in her mind as he ran from police, avoiding their poorly aimed bullets and shouting back taunts to rile them up. While she loved that cavalier side of him, she wished he would tone it down sometimes. But then again, that wasn't who Ren Amamiya was.

Before she left her position beside the wall, she took turns looking at the other posters. All members of the Phantom Thieves. All people she had worked with during their heists. All people she considered friends. There was Ryuji Sakamoto known as Skull, who was their vanguard and occasional get-away driver. That role usually went to her. Beside his was Ann Takamaki's or Panther, who specialized in more discrete methods that required a woman's touch. Many a poor Tokyo man had been beguiled by her charm only to find their valuables missing while she had distracted them.

On the other side of the wall was Yusuke Kitagawa, codename Fox, a rather odd and eccentric man but was very reliable with his rifles. He was their main marksman. Futaba Sakura who went by Oracle was shown below his. With the press and media starting to grow in this age, she was their main information gatherer. If you needed something, she could tell you how to get it. And it helped that they had the woman besides hers, Haru Okumura with them. A former heiress turned thief by the name of Noir, she lived to stick it to the snobby upper class of Japan and if she could explode a few things along the way, that was even better.

Makoto wondered how each of them would react to wanting to hang up the boots. Some of them loved doing what they did, others did it by necessity whether to make a living like Yusuke or because they had nothing else to do in life. Convincing Ren to retire with her would probably take a long time.

At least Makoto could trust their cat to take her side.

She thinks.

* * *

"There you are," she hears his voice say as she walks into the private quarters of their current hideout.

Five months they had been at this one. Five months with eight heists. Another five months with him. Ren Amamiya threw her one of his go to smirks and the sight caused her veins to bubble a little. No, now wasn't the time to get caught up in his stupid flirtations. Instead, she moved to change the topic before he could even start. Peering around to see what he was hunched over the table, she asked.

"What are you looking at?"

"Just some potential spots we could hit this month," he answered before pointing to one of the red Xs "This one could be pretty fruitful."

"I see," Makoto merely replied.

Her lover looked up from his position and studied her face.

"You're pouting again," he stated before asking "What's wrong?"

"Do you-" she began before stopping momentarily "Do you ever want to stop doing this? The whole thief business."

Her red eyes met his grey before she shook her head and looked away.

"Forget it, I already know the answer."

She moved to walk away towards the bed before she was stopped by him grabbing her wrist.

"Hey c'mon, talk to me," he said "I thought we agreed not to keep things to ourselves."

Makoto sighed. They did agree to that. She nodded gently and led him to the nearby couch. They sat down together and Makoto took a deep breath.

"Ren, I… I want to stop with this whole operation," Makoto said. "You know, get out while I'm still alive and well?"

"You've been thinking about this for a while now, haven't you?" Ren asked.

She nodded and placed her hands on top of his, resting them on his thigh.

"I know it might be selfish of me to ask you to quit as well," she continued. "But I want us to move on from this life, Ren. Move somewhere where we don't have to hide who we are or look over our shoulder to make sure we haven't been found out."

She grasped his hands a little tighter.

"I want to start a family too. I want to marry you and raise our kids somewhere nice and quiet, away from all of this."

She gave him a soft yet solemn smile.

"I guess I'm just dreaming too much," she finished.

"You're not, Makoto," Ren said. "I've thought about it before but you know… it's just…"

"You're still in love with the thrills," Makoto finished for him.

"Yeah…"

Silence hung between them as they sat there, their hands still grasped around each other. For a good few minutes, Makoto thought nothing would come from this conversation. That maybe it'd just get swept under the rug and they'd move on to forget about it. She attempted to say something, anything really to keep it going but Ren beat her too it.

"It's true that I love the thrill of the heist," he began. "The adrenaline pumping through my veins, the wind blowing against my hair, escaping by the skin of our teeth."

Makoto listened and nodded. Yes, she knew this quite well. It was a trait she found admirable about him. His devil may care attitude was what first got her interest before she truly got to know him and fell in love with him along the way.

"But I love you more than anything, Makoto," he continued "And if you're really serious about wanting to settle down and go somewhere then I'll go wherever you want."

Her eyes widened and her lips quivered. She didn't really expect this. She hoped it, that's for sure, but she didn't think it would actually happen.

"Do you mean that?" she asked.

He smiled at her and nodded.

"Yeah, though I think we'll need some retirement funds," he said with a smirk.

"D-does that…" she momentarily stuttered. "Does that mean you want to go ahead with the Kaneshiro plan?"

Ah yes, the Kaneshiro plan. Something Ren had been thinking up for the past few years. It went through so many iterations and changes that Makoto could look at it one day then look at it a week later and it'd be so different. The target? A bank owner by the name of Junya Kaneshiro with ties to the Yakuza. He was a shrewd businessman with several banks and subsidiaries in the Tokyo area, many of which were gained through less than scrupulous means and also invested in other illegal activities. And he was rich. Very very rich. He was a perfect target for the Phantom Thieves. The Thieves that toed the line between what a normal thief was and being an icon amongst the common populace. Two wrongs don't make it right but taking money from this scumbag?

That just made them want to do it more.

"There are a few minor details I'll have to sort out with the team but, I think it's pretty much ready," Ren said.

Makoto nodded and looked into his eyes.

"So after this… this last heist," she spoke, her voice thick with emotion "We can go away somewhere and just be together?"

He smiled at her before leaning in and kissing her gently on the lips.

"Yeah," he grinned. "One last heist."

* * *

*Cue CSI: Miami Music*

*YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH*

* * *

The rest of the team were scattered around the common room as Makoto and Ren walked in. The couple stood in the middle as Makoto cleared her throat.

"Hey guys, could we have your attention?"

They all turned towards them, some even walking closer.

"What is it, Mako-chan?" Haru asked.

Makoto's eyes met Ren's and he nodded, giving her the affirmative to continue.

"Ren and I have been talking and…" she paused to let the words come to her. "We've decided that the next heist is going to be our last."

A few gasps were heard with a few of them talking animatedly amongst each other. Ann stepped forward and gave Makoto an appreciative smile.

"I had a feeling this was coming pretty soon," she said. "What's the job?"

"Yeah," Ryuji added. "Must be a big one if it's going to be your retirement heist."

Ren spoke a single name and the others went quiet.

"Kaneshiro."

It was Yusuke that finally broke the silence.

"You've been planning that one for years, have you not?"

"That's like your Magnum Opus!" Futuba exclaimed. "Well, I guess you've saved the best for last."

Ren smirked and Makoto could feel herself falling in love with him all over again. He was about to go to into leader mode.

"Alright, gather up guys," he ordered as he walked to the nearby table. "Here's the plan."

They all listened intently as Ren went into leader mode.

* * *

Two security guards stood by the back entrance of the Kaneshiro's East Tokyo Bank branch. The older of the two leant back on the wall and yawned. It was nearing nightfall and their shift was about to end.

"Got plans for dinner, Yamamoto?" the senior guard asked.

"Ah yes, my wife recently received a new recipe book from my mother so she's going to try some new things."

"Huh, must be nice," his colleague grinned. "Having a new wife and all."

Yamamoto sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

"You know, it's nice that today's been rather quiet," he mused.

The older man frowned.

"Aw come on, now that you've said that, you know something's going to happen!"

"Sorry!" Yamamoto quickly apologized. "But what are the chances of that?"

A loud explosion sounded off nearby as dust and smoke blew towards them.

"You just had to say something, didn't you?"

Just as they moved to investigate a car sped past them carrying a flash of blonde hair and shark tooth grin partnered by pink framed by fluffy chestnut hair. Yamamoto ran to give chase when the female of the duo pulled out a grenade launcher.

"Oh no, move!" the older guard yelled.

They just managed to dodge it as it exploded behind them. The sound of a feminine giggle and loud brash laughter could be heard in the distance as the car full of gold bars got away.

* * *

Toward the northern side of the city a bank teller sat at his desk, rather bored with how the day dragged on. The monotony of his shift ended when he noticed a woman walk in. She wore a rather nice red number and had flowing blonde hair. Though he couldn't see her face, he could immediately tell she was attractive. Was she a foreigner? Blonde hair was a rather rare sight in Japan, even in Tokyo. He glanced around the lobby and saw everyone else had their attention on her. What an eye catching woman she was.

It's a shame no one noticed the man that entered just before her slink around the room and into the safe. The woman had barely been there for ten minutes and already several men had tried to talk to her. She didn't seem to mind the attention though and the teller could hear her laughing at whatever one of them had said to her. The Teller felt a pang of jealousy as did his co-workers beside him.

The woman had barely been there for fifteen minutes when she bowed and said her goodbyes. The teller was about to walk over to say something to her when the man that had entered before the woman got in his way.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" he yelled.

"My apologies," a deep voice returned.

The teller grumbled and watched the man who had two suitcases with him leave. He was about to continue on his way when the woman was already gone. He sighed and toddled back to his desk. As he sat down, a worker cried out.

"The safe's been raided!"

"What?!"

They all ran to find the safe door flung open and almost all the valuables missing.

The woman and the man from earlier smiled at their success as they left the vicinity, donning their masks in the meantime.

* * *

Makoto stood by their car, waiting as Ren prepared his gear. While their heists often found success, she couldn't help but get nervous. Today's especially. It was the last heist. THE last heist. Their future depended on this. A thought popped in her head.

"Have you heard of the couple from America? The outlaw ones?" she asked.

Ren peered up and nodded.

"Bonnie and Clyde, right?" he replied as she nodded. "Yeah, I followed their story in the papers for a while. It's a shame the way their journey ended."

Makoto gripped the handle of her revolver hidden beneath her coat.

"Do you think we'll end like that?" she tentatively asked.

"Hey," Ren said as he walked closer to her. "It's going to be fine."

She smiled as he took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Ren always had a way of making her feel better whenever she was feeling anxious. It was one of the qualities that kept her falling in love with him over and over again.

"You're right," Makoto said with an exhale. "We'll be fine."

Ren grinned at her and she felt her heart skip a beat as he continued working on his gun. A few minutes passed and they noticed something flickering in the sky in the distance. Their eyes zoomed in on it to find a kite dancing in the air of the sunset sky. It was cut in the shape of a bird, with large white wings to ride the winds.

"The albatross," Makoto found herself saying.

"That's Oracle's signal," Ren commented as he picked up his gun. "Let's go."

"Right."

Makoto pulled out her revolver and looked around. Everything was quiet so far and no one had noticed the inconspicuous couple in the street corner. She glanced at Ren who's eyes stayed on their target.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready," she nodded.

The two donned their masks and moved.

It was show-time.

* * *

"Sir, the East and North Banks were just hit!" an aide shouted as he stormed inside of the main office.

Junya Kaneshiro looked up, his eyes widened.

"Both of them?!" he asked in shock before turning to the map pinned on the wall. "There's no doubt, it's them."

He pondered for a moment before a thought struck him.

"That means this branch is next! Get everyone and every cop you can over here!"

"Yes, sir!"

Kaneshiro turned back and slunk back into his chair.

"You're not getting away with my money, Phantom Thieves."

* * *

Makoto dodged to the side, positioning herself behind a concrete wall. Bullets ricocheted against the stone and Makoto had to keep herself hidden to avoid the gunfire. How did they get so many people here in time? Sure they had planned for and anticipated some resistance but not as much as this. On the other side of the hallway was Ren, returning fire with his gun. He glanced at her and nodded before peeking out from his cover and shooting back in a pattern. Makoto took the chance to run over to his side when their opponents needed to reload.

"We need to hold out until the others get here," she said in between breaths.

Her partner merely nodded and continued to strategically fire back, making sure not to waste his ammunition. Makoto fired a few shots back, hitting one of the security guards in the arm. The sounds of his colleagues moving to give him medical attention could be heard and Makoto took that as a signal.

"They're distracted, let's move," she said to Ren who followed her lead.

They maneuvered their way through the bank hallways, returning fire at their assailants whenever possible. As they neared the exit, they heard the sounds of a familiar car nearby.

"That's probably Skull," Ren assumed.

It seems their teammates were successful in hitting the smaller banks. With Makoto and Ren currently doing the main branch, they needed everyone else's assistance. This was going to be the biggest score of their lives. They bolted through the doors and hit a bend before seeing Skull's car in the distance. It seemed he and Noir had already picked up Panther and Fox along the way. All Makoto and Ren had to do get to the vehicle.

Two policemen barrelled around the corner in their patrol car and Ren had to sidestep to dodge the incoming vehicle. He almost would've been taken out by their pistols had Yusuke not shot them both from the distance.

"Queen! Joker!" Noir called out.

The two leaders met with their team and threw their jackpot into the back of the vehicle. One of Kaneshiro's lackeys quickly got to them, blitzing towards them on a brand new motorcycle. Well, he was up until Joker shot him off. In the distance, more vehicles could be heard approaching. Makoto looked towards Ren who had his eye on the motorcycle.

"Joker?" she asked.

He took a breath and swallowed hard.

"You guys go! They haven't seen this car yet so they won't be looking for you," he ordered.

"But what about you?" Ryuji asked.

Joker moved towards the motorcycle, admiring the craftsmanship and inspecting it's capabilities as he went along.

"I'll lead them away," he stated. "I'll try and lose them on the way to the Yongen Safe House."

"No!" Makoto cried. "Joker, don't. If anyone should use that it should be me."

"I'm not going to leave you here behind by yourself," he countered.

"I'm the better rider!" she argued.

"Guys, you need to decide quickly," Ann quickly interjected, not hoping to cause any more trouble.

The job was already going south. Ren sighed and grabbed Makoto's hand.

"Together?" he offered.

She let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Together."

They mounted the motorcycle with Makoto taking the reins as Ren prepped his gun with more ammunition.

"If you can stay nearby and give us cover every now and then without giving yourself away, that would help a lot," Ren said.

"Got it," Ryuji replied. "Stay safe you two?"

"We will," Makoto smiled.

"Well, as safe as we can with fifty people shooting at us," Ren smirked.

"I really don't know how you can be joking at a time like this," his girlfriend sighed.

The rest of the team merely laughed and Ryuji drove the car away before the rest of Kaneshiro's goons could arrive. Makoto revved the motorbike up as Ren repositioned himself before firing a shot towards the oncoming enemies.

"There they are!" one bellowed. "Get them! Kaneshiro doesn't want any of them to escape!"

Makoto could feel the blood flowing freely in her veins as they sped off, the wind beating against their faces. She could just feel it within her. They were going to make it out of here somehow.

* * *

The Phantom Thieves tried their best to keep a steady distance between them, their leaders and Kaneshiro's underlings but trying to follow Makoto on a motorcycle was like trying to outrun one of those aeroplanes. You could keep up for the first few minutes but after it picked up speed, it was gone. So they made the conscious decision to travel to the Yongen safe house while keeping check of where the sirens and gunfire were coming from.

As they neared the safe house which was more of an abandoned factory, really, they noticed the motorcycle Ren and Makoto had used parked outside. They couldn't get near however as the police and Kaneshiro's goons had surrounded it, guns all pointed to the dilapidated building.

"Give it up, Joker!" one of the lead officers yelled. "We've got this place surrounded and you and your girl have no chance of getting out alive!"

Ryuji wanted to jump in and help them but was held back by Ann.

"No, it'd be suicide," she said.

"Joker and Queen surely have a plan to get out of here," Haru mumbled.

"Mm, you're right," Yusuke added. "Queen did spend a lot of time working out escape routes."

Their discussion was cut off by sound of a gun, shooting from inside one of the factory windows, striking Kaneshiro's right hand man in the chest.

"What are they doing?" Ann asked.

To the team's shock and horror, the officers and gang members all began opening fire, hailing down on the building with a barrage of bullets. The scent of gasoline weaved through the air and without warning, the Yongen safe house exploded in an inferno of fire and mortar. The Phantom Thieves eyes widened and their hearts sank at the sight of the blaze.

"Well, they're not coming back from that," one of the officers remarked.

"You're right," another said. "Not even the Joker could survive that kind of explosion."

The Phantom Thieves waited and waited until the fire died down and all the authorities had left. The sight they saw was a rather sombre one as two masks lay charred in the centre of the rubble.

The ones belonging to Queen and Joker.

* * *

1940 – In the mountains of Rural Japan.

The fresh morning spring air felt good through their lungs as the team formerly known as the Phantom Thieves exited their train. It had been just over four years since their last heist and the disbandment of the Phantom Thieves and every year there would meet up to reminisce on past times and mourn the loss of two of their closest friends.

Futaba had picked their vacation spot this time. It was a surprising pick, if they could be honest but her reasoning was sound. She just wanted to get away from the city for a while. They walked into the town of Inaba, hoping to find a nice inn to settle into for the evening. As they walked along the main road, Ann accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh I'm sorry!" she instinctively apologized but was surprised to see no one there until she looked down.

A small child, maybe around four or five years old was sitting on the seat of her pants, nursing her elbow which now had a small scratch on it.

"Oh you poor thing, I'm so sorry!" Ann apologized again, bending over to look at the gash.

"It's okay!" the little girl smiled. "It doesn't hurts much!"

They all let out a smile at the girl's cuteness.

"What's your name, little one?" Haru asked, kneeling beside Ann as they checked on the wound.

"I'm Kazue!" the girl grinned. "I'm four years old!"

"Aw aren't you just adorable!" Ann cooed.

"Where are your parents?" Ryuji asked.

"Mama and Papa are working in the café!" Kazue replied. "They makes the best coffee in town but I'm nots allowed to have it yet."

"A café you say?" Yusuke asked, interest piqued.

"Yeah! You wanna come, mister?"

"Perhaps we should go," Haru suggested.

"Yeah, I'd like to apologize to Kazue's parents."

"I would love a cup of coffee, to be honest," Yusuke said.

"No surprise there," Futaba snickered.

"Follow me!" Kazue beamed, having gotten some new customers for her parents. They were going to be so proud of her. "You won't forget this feeling!"

The little girl smirked and for a split second, they were all reminded of two certain leaders.

"Huh?" Ryuji wondered.

They all shared the sentiment but pushed it to the back of their minds. For now, they'd follow Kazue to her parent's café. As they neared the building, Kazue eagerly pointed it out. She led them through the door and announced her arrival loudly.

"Mama! Papa!" she yelled. "I've brought some new customers."

As the backdoor to the kitchen opened, the Phantom Thieves were all shocked by who had come to greet them.

"Hey," Ren said, his smirk matching the one Kazue had earlier.

"It's been a while," Makoto smiled.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This'll be my last entry for Makoto Week unless I magically think of something for the last day. I hope you enjoyed this one that Melkechi and I thought up. You know we had to do it one time.

Thanks to everyone that's read my submissions and to everyone that's participated in Makoto Week so far. It's been great fun!

As always, leave a kudos/comment if you'd like.

twitter dot com/MadmanJrs  
twitter dot com/Melkechi  
twitter dot com/MakotoWeek


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